Cops watch one stolen car, find another

ESCONDIDO  Escondido police investigating an auto-theft series were staking out a stolen car Tuesday when two people rolled up in another stolen car.

The driver, Yobani Resendiz, 23, was arrested and later booked on suspicion of three vehicle thefts, police Sgt. Jim Lanigan said.

Lanigan said the investigation centered around a half-dozen vehicle thefts from the parking lot of Vallarta Supermarket on East Valley Parkway, near North Rose Street, over the past couple of weeks.

Officer Bill Havens got a tip that someone involved in the thefts might live at a North Fig Street apartment complex. He found a stolen green Toyota Corolla in the complex parking lot and arranged a stakeout Tuesday afternoon by plainclothes officers, Lanigan said.

While they were watching to see who might get into the Corolla, Resendiz drove into the lot in a stolen Honda Civic, with a teenage passenger, Lanigan said. The 17-year-old girl was detained, then released.

Investigators believe Resendiz is linked to two other cases, and jailed him on three counts of vehicle theft, Lanigan said. Resendiz also was booked on suspicion of possessing stolen property and burglary tools, with bail set at $25,000, according to the jail website.